Matchbook holder



March 26, 1957 M. HERSTEDT MATCHBOOK HOLDER Filed July 18, 1955 1N VEN TOR. gafhiflwkd United States Patent MATCHBOOK HOLDER Martin E. Herstedt, East Moline, ill.

Application July 18, 1955, Serial No. 522,672

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-33) This invention relates to a match book holder and more particularly to a holder for conveniently carrying a pair of ordinary match books in back-to-back relationship with one inverted as respects the other.

It is not unknown to provide a carrier or holder for a match book or even for a plurality of such books, and various types of holders have been devised but without substantial commercial potential in every case. The deficiencies in prior holders are believed to reside largely in multi-piece construction, which is expensive to manufacture, difiicult to handle and subject to malfunctioning. Many holders have covers and complicated book-retaining means and many require that the match book be substantially destroyed to permit its acceptance by the holder. According to the present invention, these disadvantages are overcome by a novel holder featuring one-piececonstruction, simplicity of design, attractiveness, convenience and the absence of complicated book-retaining means. These and other advantages, to appear as the disclosure progresses, are among the objects of the invention, a detailed disclosure of a preferred embodiment of which is contained in the ensuing specification and accompanying drawing, the several figures of which are described below.

Figure 1 is a perspective front face view of the holder.

Figure 2 is a perspective rear face view of the holder.

Figure 3 is similar to Figure l but shows the holder loaded.

Figure 4 is a section through the empty holder (line 44, Fig. 1).

Figure 5 is a section through the loaded holder (line 55, Fig. 3).

Figure 6 is a section like Fig. 5 but illustrates one phase of the loading or unloading of the holder.

The novel holder comprises essentially a one-piece structure having vertically spaced apart top and bottom box-like elements 10 and 12, respectively, and a fiat upright support or bar 14. In its preferred form the holder has the shape of the letter H turned on one side, the legs of the H providing the elements 10 and 12 and the bar of the H being elongated and reduced in width and forming the support 14. The material of which the holder is constructed may be metal or any of the well-known plastics that will facilitate manufacture as well as altording flexing of the support 14 selectively forwardly or rearwardly of its normal plane (compare Figs. 5 and 6). The use of such expressions as front, rear, top, bottom, etc, here and in the appended claim is based on convenience of description and is not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention.

The bottom element 12 defines a front bottom pocket means 16 and a rear bottom pocket means 18, and the top element 10 defines a front top pocket means 20 and a rear top pocket means 22. This construction enables the carrying of a pair of match books MP and MR in back-to-back relation, with the backs of the books separated by and lying respectively along the front and rear faces of the support 14 and with the rear book MR in- 2,786,571 Patented Mar. 26, 1957 verted as respects the front book MF (Figs. 3 and 5). The book MF will be recognized as of conventional design, having a stapled end 24, a back 26, a folded end 28, an openable cover flap 30 and a match-striking surface 32.

The front bottom pocket means 16 is defined by a forwardly extending floor 34 that terminates in an integral wall 36. This wall is of relatively low height and is offset forwardly from the bottom portion of the support 14. The front top pocket means is formed by a ceiling 38 that projects forwardly from the top of the support 14, having at its front terminal edge a depending marginal lip or flange 40 of comparatively small vertical dimension. The front match book MP is downwardly insertable into the front bottom pocket means 16 so as to stand in the holder with its back 26 fiat against the front face of the support 14 and its folded top portion 28 Within the top front pocket means 20, the lip 40 hooking over said portion 28 to releasably retain the match book. As stated above, the support 14 is resilient for flexing thereof rea-rwardly from its normal plane, thereby facilitating insertion and removal of the match book (Fig. 6). Flexing of the support, which may be accomplished by squeezing the holder from above and below between the thumb and forefinger, achieves a bending of the support about an axis transverse to its length and thus imparts to the top element It a rocking action which causes the lip 40 to move upwardly and rearwardly and out of vertical alinement with the front bottom pocket means 16 clearing the lip 49 from the top portion 225 of the match book MF. Release of pressure on the holder is followed by return of the support and top element to normal and if the match book MP is in place it will be retained by the lip.

The two bottom pocket means 16 and 18 are closed at opposite ends by end walls 42, and similar end Walls 44 accomplish the same purpose for the two top pocket means 20 and 22. The lower front wall 36 is apertured at 46 to expose the match-striking surface 32 of the match book MP. The plane of the support is slightly angled to the vertical so as to give the front bottom pocket means a downwardly convergent or tapered configuration to more tightly hold the conventionally tapered stapled end 24 of the match book MF. By the same token, the top front pocket means is enlarged to accommodate the conventionally larger upper end 28 of the book MP.

The match book MR is identical to the book MF and has a stapled end 24a, a back 26a, a folded end 28a. a cover flap 30a and a match-striking surface 32a. The book MR is in back-to-back relation with an inverted relative to the book MF. This relationship is based upon the conventionally tapered or wedge shape of a match book and when the two are related as here (see Fig. 5) the fore-and-aft dimension of the structure is reduced and reversed symmetry is achieved; that is, the components present at the front face thereof are repeated at the back but are reversed or upside down, so to speak. Hence, the rear top pocket means 22 is diagonally opposite and has the structure and functions of the front bottom pocket means 16, being defined by a ceiling 34a, which is an integral extension of the ceiling 38, and further having a rear depending Wall 36:: apertured at 46.1 for access to the match-striking surface 32a of the book MR. Similarly, the rear bottom pocket means 18 is diagonally opposite the front top means 20 and has a floor 38a and a lip 43a, the floor being an integral rearward extension of the floor 34 and the lip being rearwardly offset from the support 14.

The angle of the support 14 renders the pocket means 18 and 22 upwardly convergent, which accords with the upside down position of the match book MR. Flexing of the support in a forward direction to displace the lower 3 rear lip 40a relative to the folded end 28a of the book MR will be clear from turning Fig. 6 upside down. The match book already loaded is sufficiently flexible to accommodate flexing of the support.

The holder thus provided is simple in design, inex pensive to manufacture and, being light in Weight and of one-piece construction, is easy to use. The duality of the structure affords the features already mentioned: reduction in fore-and-aft dimension and release and retention of the match books without separate moving parts and without in any way modifying conventional match book characteristics.

Other features inherent in and encompassed by the invention will suggest themselves, as will variations in the inventive embodiment here disclosed, all without departure from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A match book holder, comprising: vertically spaced apart top and bottom box-like elements and a fiat upright support interconnecting said elements, said support dividing the bottom element into lower front and rear pocket means and dividing the top element into upper front and rear pocket means; said lower front pocket means including a floor projecting forwardly from the bottom of the support and a relatively low front wall projecting upwardly from said floor in forwardly offset relation to the bottom portion of the support; said upper front pocket means having a ceiling projecting forwardly from the top of the support and including a depending front top marginal lip offset forwardly from the top portion of the support; said lower front pocket means being adapted to receive the bottom of a match book insertable therein from above to stand with its back flat against the support and its top releasably received in the upper front pocket proximate to the top element and means with its cover flap to the front, said upper front pocket means being normally vertically alined with the lower front pocket means, and said front top lip having such relatively small vertical dimension as to hook over and retain the top of the book While enabling forward opening of the cover flap of the book; said support being resilient for flexing thereof rearwardly out of its normal plane so as to displace the upper front pocket means from alinement with the bottom element for facilitating downward insertion of the match book into and upward withdrawal of the match book from the lower front pocket means, said support and top element lip being so constructed and arranged that upon rearward flexing of the support the lip moves upwardly and rearwardly to clear the top of the match book and upon forward return of the support the lip moves forwardly and downwardly to hook over and retain the top of the match book; and said structure being reversely symmetrical at opposite faces of the support, having at its rear face an upper rear pocket means identical to the lower front pocket means and a lower rear pocket means identical to the upper front pocket means, said rear upper and lower pocket means being thereby adapted to receive a rear match book in inverted back-to-back relation to the front match book, and said support separating the backs of the books and further being capable of flexing forwardly out of its normal plane to displace the lower rear pocket means relative to the bottom of the rear match book in the same manner as rearward flexing of said support displaces the upper front pocket means relative to the top of the front book.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,930,109 Rosmait Oct. 10, 1933 2,344,210 Macbeth Mar. 14, 1944 2,515,072 Bennett July 11, 1950 

